odd combinations
by kyleisgod
Summary: The boys and girls of South Park take a certain board game WAY too seriously. Gay and straight pairings included.


1Authors notes: For those of you who liked "The Slash Club," I hope you'll also enjoy this. I think it's very much in the spirit of an actual South Park episode. I'm still working on "Dance With The Devil," but I took a break to pen this piece over the long weekend.

Disclaimer: I don't own South Park, and Scrabble is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc. in the US and Canada and of J. W. Spear & Sons PLC elsewhere. I do however own a copy of Scrabble somewhere in my house.

They followed the same routine once every week: Meet at one of their houses, form into their usual two-person teams, and play Scrabble. By all accounts it was a fun time to have, especially considering they all lived in such a small town where there was only so much to do for fun.

Today the gathering was happening at Stan's house. He and Kyle were on the same side sharing the letters, as usual. Their opponents were also common duos: Cartman and Wendy, Kenny and Bebe, and Craig and Tweek.

"Gah!" Tweek twitched. "I can't think of a word! Oh GOD this is too much pressure!"

Stan rolled his eyes. "Dude, you say that every week. You're doing fine. Relax."

"I can't relax! If I let my guard down they'll get me," Tweek argued as his body shook with nervousness.

"You know, we _have_ been doing this a lot lately," Kyle noted.

"Yeah. Usually on the same teams too," Craig said.

"I never thought I could stand being around Kyle this much," Cartman said. "Or you, hippie."

Wendy glared at her partner. "The feeling's mutual."

"Wait!" Stan exclaimed, making Tweek scream in brief terror once again.

"What?" Kyle asked.

"I just had a sweet idea," Stan explained. "If we're gonna keep doing this every week on the same teams, we should come up with team names."

"Hey yeah! That'd be sweet," Kyle agreed.

Cartman raised his hand. "Dibs on first name pick!" he said quickly.

"Ugh. Fine Cartman what's your team name?" Stan asked.

Cartman smiled proudly. "Candy" he said, not even allowing Wendy a chance to consider what suggestions she might've had.

"Candy?" the girl questioned dully.

"Yeah you know, for Cartman and Wendy. It makes total sense."

"You _would_ name our team after something chocolate, fat ass!"

"Ay! _Your_ name takes up most of the combination. I'm just trying to help _you_ out, ho!"

"Not allowing me any input on something that's supposed to be a _team_ effort does nothing to help me."

"Bitching at me doesn't help either, so maybe you should stop now," Eric suggested politely, causing Wendy to practically fume.

"Guys calm down," Stan said. "Craig and Tweek, what's your team name?"

The two boys blinked uncertainly.

"I don't know. I think the idea's kind of stupid," Craig said.

"Do we really have to decide right now?" an intimidated Tweek said.

"Aw come on. It can't be _that_ hard to figure out a name," Kyle encouraged. "Let's see, Craig and Tweek. You guys wanna be...Creek?"

Craig shrugged. "Fine, whatever. This is retarded."

"Oh thank you Jesus," Tweek said. Kyle picking their team name for them certainly took a lot of pressure off.

Bebe smiled proudly. "We're team Benny," she decreed. Kenny turned his head toward his partner, looking skeptical. He chose to say nothing about it for the time being.

Stan placed his hand to his chin, contemplating. "And me and Kyle will be...Uhh..."

"Style?" the Jew offered.

"Yeah!"

"Can we just keep playing now?" Craig questioned, wanting this name nonsense to be over with.

"Sure. Your word Tweek," Stan said.

With jittery hands, Tweek slowly and reluctantly formed a word.

Cat.

The groups, including Tweek's own partner, face-palmed simultaneously.

The next morning inside the boys bathroom at school, Butters Stotch ran a comb through what little hair he had. He wanted to look extra good today. For Butters had decided that today was the day he would finally ask Kenny McCormick the big question that had been consuming his thoughts for the past month. It was a question Butters had gone over in his mind a hundred times. Repeating it out loud to the mirror wouldn't make it any easier to say when the time came, but Butters gave it a try anyway.

"Do you wanna be Scrabble partners?"

Butters and Kenny had been friends for some time. Possibly even best friends. After overhearing the guys discussing one of their weekly games during recess last month, Butters found himself wondering what it would be like to play Scrabble with another boy. He ultimately decided that the idea sounded "nifty." Unfortunately, he never had the courage to ask Kenny to take their relationship a step further and become his new partner.

That is, until today.

The blonde took a deep breath. He glared at himself in the mirror.

"Now gosh darnit self, stop bein' a chicken! K-Kenny's leaving biology class any second. You can see him in the hallway and ask him right now if you hurry."

The boy listened to himself. He exited the bathroom and sprinted for his long-time friend's locker. Unfortunately, when he arrived, Kenny was already involved in a pretty heated discussion with Bebe Stevens.

"You don't like the name?" Bebe asked, sounding surprised and hurt.

"Well, no," Kenny admitted. "I mean come on. Benny?"

The offended girl put her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "Well I don't see _you_ coming up with anything better!"

"Bebe, is it really that big a deal?"

"Yes! I'm tired of you belittling my opinions."

"I do not."

"You do too."

"That's bullshit. I _can't_ be looking down at your opinions."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't even listen to them half the..."

Kenny didn't finish his sentence. He didn't have to. He was already in deeper shit.

"Fine! Maybe I'll just go find someone who appreciates my name combinations!"

"Fine!" Kenny agreed.

The blonde girl turned her back and stormed off in a huff. Kenny responded by angrily throwing open his locker, searching it for the book he'd need next period.

Cautiously, Butters approached him.

"Uh, hey there Kenny."

"What!" Kenny snapped.

Butters jumped back.

"Sorry" Ken said. "I just had a fight with Bebe."

Butters nodded. "I heard. And, well, I just want you to know that..."

Butters paused. Now wasn't the time. Kenny had just lost his long-time Scrabble partner. To ask him to align himself again so soon wouldn't be right. It would be a cheap, rebound game. Butters had more respect for himself and for Kenny than that.

"What?" Kenny asked.

"I just uh...I-I just wanted you to know that...That I'm here for you."

Kenny smiled. "Thanks."

"Cartman, I can't do this anymore."

Wendy's words forced Eric to look up from his lunch food. "What do you mean?"

"The Scrabble games. Last night was the last straw."

Cartman wiped the sauce from around his mouth, focusing all of his attention on the girl seated across the lunch table from him. This sounded serious.

"Last straw?" he questioned. "But...But we won!"

"It's not always about winning."

"Yes it is! That's why we became Scrabble partners in the first place. We knew we were the best at it. We knew that if we got together, we could give each other the biggest victories ever. Remember?"

Wendy frowned. "Yeah, I do. But it seems like the only time we get along is when we're Scrabbling together. The multiple wins are nice, but I need a little more from my partner than that."

"Look, if this is about our team name-"

"It's not just that! God, you just don't get it. You've changed, Cartman. Last night you didn't even wait for me. You just started spelling words all by yourself. I want a partner who can stimulate me intellectually when we're playing. All _you_ seem to want anymore is the thrill of your own victory. You don't care about my needs."

Taking offense to the remark, Cartman glared at Wendy. "Don't you dare tell _me_ I don't stimulate your mind. My words are huge!"

"It's not the words that count. It's where and how you use them."

"If my words weren't enough for you, why'd we become partners all those times? Huh?"

Wendy stood from the lunch table. "Cartman it's over. I'm sorry okay? I'd still like to be friends."

Cartman avoided a response to the friendship remark. He was still holding out hope for a reunion. Instead, he addressed a point that he hoped Wendy hadn't considered.

"What about next week? We're supposed to play at Kyle's house. We had plans."

"Plans change," Wendy said sadly. "No more Scrabbling together."

"Just one more time," Cartman said, practically begging.

"No" Wendy stated firmly. "It was just supposed to be once the first time we teamed up too. Before we knew it, we were doing this every week."

"Because we enjoyed it. We still do. Wendy, please..."

Cartman's cries fell on deaf ears. With a heavy heart, Wendy left him alone at the table.

That evening, Ike Broflovski walked in on an interesting sight.

His older brother, seated in a computer chair, wearing only a pair of boxers, reading an online dictionary.

"God dammit Ike!" Kyle swore as he quickly located his blanket, throwing it over himself and clicking off the site in question.

Ike smirked and invited himself into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. "Kyle bad," the baby said.

"Oh I am not!" he said angrily. "All boys look up words. It's inevitable. Someday, you'll even do it."

Ike's smile widened as he bragged. "Scrabble."

Kyle's jaw dropped open. His face went pale as he looked down at his baby brother in disbelief.

"You've...You've played Scrabble before?"

Ike nodded his head. Kyle still couldn't believe it.

"But...You're so _young_, Ike! Jesus Christ!"

"Where Stan?" Ike asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know. His house I guess."

Ike pointed toward the computer monitor. "Kyle look at words without Stan?"

Kyle shook his head. "You don't understand dude. It's not the _words_ that I find interesting. It's the fact that I can use them when I'm playing Scrabble _with_ Stan. He and I are very committed. We even have a team name picked out."

"Ohhh," the younger boy said, now with better understanding.

"Right. So, if you don't mind-"

"Ike and Kyle Scrabble?"

Shocked, Kyle's eyes widened. "Wh...What?"

"I wanna play with you," Ike explained.

"...You...You can't be serious! Ike, we're brothers for God's sake!"

"Adopted" Ike argued.

"It doesn't matter. You were _raised_ like my brother. No way in Hell am I gonna make you my partner."

"Kike"

"_What_?! Has Cartman been teaching you bad words again?"

Ike shook his head. He made his way over toward Kyle's computer and jumped upward, snatching a pen and a piece of blank printing paper from off of the desk. He wrote on the paper, then held it out for Kyle to see.

"Kyle" was written on the paper, with "Ike" written just below it. Once Kyle nodded his head to indicate that he was following Ike so far, Ike turned the paper back over and wrote some more. When he flipped it again, there was a mathematical equation written on the paper.

Kyle + Ike Kike

Kyle scowled at the paper. "First of all, that's a pretty offensive team name. Second of all, I told you I'm partners with Stan. I'm sorry. Now go back to your room and let's never speak of this again. Okay?"

Ike crossed his arms over his chest. "Asshole."

That one was certainly _not_ meant as a team name.

Ike left the room, but Kyle wasn't yet done thinking about the incident. For the first time in what seemed like forever, someone besides Stan showed an interest in aligning themselves with him. Granted that someone was his own brother, but it reminded Kyle of just how much he enjoyed his partnership with Stan. He suspected Stan felt the same, and it made the redhead smile.

He decided to do something with Stan in celebration of their rekindled strong bond.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T PLAY?!"

Naturally, everyone walking the school hallway at that moment looked toward the nervous blonde and his obviously injured companion.

"Tweek calm down," Craig insisted. "It's fine."

"No it isn't man!" Tweek twitched.

"My doctor says it's just a sprained wrist. I can make words with you once it's better."

"But what about the game? I can't spell words by myself!"

Craig smirked. "You mean you don't _want_ to spell words by yourself."

"GAH!"

"Look, if you really don't wanna do it alone...You can find someone else to fill in."

Tweek's eyes widened. He twitched again. "I can? But...But isn't that like, cheating?"

"Not if you have my permission. It's cool."

"Thanks Craig. I really appreciate this."

"Sure."

"Gotta find a partner," Tweek muttered to himself as he began to search the halls. "Oh Jesus..."

Butters Stotch loved a good ice cream cone. When he went to purchase himself a treat after school, he certainly didn't expect to find Eric Cartman literally crying in his sundae bowl. Pouting, the blonde went over to see what was wrong with his schoolmate.

"Eric? Wh-what's a matter?"

The fat boy sniffled. He took a bite of ice cream, despite it being watered down from his own tears. "It's...It's Wendy," he said.

"What's wrong?" the blonde asked. He pulled out a chair and sat down across from Cartman.

"She said we can't be partners anymore. It's all over."

"Gosh, I'm sorry Eric. I know how it feels to really wanna play Scrabble with somebody who ain't interested."

"You do?"

Butters blushed. He mashed his knuckles together nervously as his eyes looked to the floor in embarrassment. "Y-yeah. I really wanna become Kenny's partner, but he's still gettin' over Bebe. I guess maybe I'm stupid for thinkin' he'd wanna play Scrabble with boys."

"Dude, what're you talking about? Kenny's bilingual."

Butters gasped. He looked up to the fat boy, studying his face for a hint of a lie. Finding none, Butters' eyes lit up with hope. "Really?! He is?!"

"Oh yeah. Before I teamed up with Wendy, me and Kenny used to play board games all the time. Scrabble. Monopoly. That guy's a freak man."

"Oh boy! Maybe there's hope after all."

Cartman put down his spoon and placed his hand to his chin as he contemplated something. Never one to miss an opportunity, he smiled over at Butters once his idea was finalized.

"You know Butters, if Kenny's still not over Bebe, and with me all alone, you and I might be able to...help each other out."

"Wh-whaddya mean?"

"I mean, if you really wanna sit in on those games, you and I could always team up."

Butters blinked. "Oh. I dunno. I kinda had my heart set on bein' with Kenny."

Cartman sighed. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. If you be my partner, I'll let _you_ create our kewl team name."

Butters gasped. He felt honored by such a bestowment of power. Especially coming from such a power-hungry guy as Cartman.

"Wow really? I get to pick the team name?"

Cartman reached across the table, grasping one of Butters' hands in his own. "That's right. What do you say Butters? Will you Scrabble with me?"

"...Well, all right then."

Kyle waited as patiently as he could outside of Stan's bedroom window. Once the study session happening inside was over, Kyle planned to knock on the glass and get invited in. Then, he could give Stan the surprise he'd brought.

"Thanks for helping me with my homework Wendy."

"No problem Stan. You know, your vocabulary is really expanding lately."

Stan smiled proudly from his seat on the edge of his bed. "Yeah. I guess all those Scrabble games are helping huh?"

Wendy sighed from her position on the floor. "For you maybe. They're leaving _me_ incredibly frustrated."

Stan raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why? You and Cartman usually win."

"You mean _he_ usually wins. He always has to have the last word. Literally. He's done after he spells, and then it's up to me to finish the game myself."

Stan frowned. "That sucks dude."

Outside, Kyle snickered. He made a mental note to mock Cartman with this information later. He silently thanked Abraham that he was able to hear the two inside.

Unfortunately for Kyle, Stan kept talking.

"Me and Kyle always take turns. Sometimes, if we're lucky, we even make words at the same time."

"Oh god..." Kyle muttered from outside. "Dude don't tell her _that_!"

"I know," Wendy said. "I've seen the way you two play together. It's really sweet."

The homework finally finished, Stan moved down to the floor, sitting himself next to Wendy.

"So, are you gonna be at the game next week?"

"Only if I can find a new partner. I ended it with Cartman."

"Oh. Well, I heard Tweek needs someone to fill in for Craig."

Wendy laughed. "Team Week? I don't think so."

Stan shrugged. "What about Bebe? She's not teaming up with Kenny anymore."

Wendy quirked her eyebrow. "Bebe?! She's my best friend!"

"So? I'm best friends with Kyle and we still became partners."

"Well I'm not Scrabbling with Bebe. I don't play for that team."

"Well dude you'd better find a new partner soon. The next game's in a few days."

"I know."

"What about Kenny?"

"Ha! Kenny would be even worse than Cartman."

"You know what I think? I think maybe you _want_ to find a problem with other partners."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you miss Cartman. You wanna be -his- partner again."

Wendy hung her head low in shame. "Maybe I miss him a little," she admitted. "But he's so selfish."

"Maybe so, but he brings out a lot of passion in you that no one else can. I've never seen you as competitive as when you're with him."

Against her own will, Wendy smiled. "I guess you're right about that. I remember the first time we teamed up. We were fighting like dogs because we couldn't get rid of our letters. Then, we came up with antidisestablishmentarianism, and just like that we were calm again."

"You won that game too," Stan recalled with his own smile.

"How couldn't we? It's one of the longest words in the English language."

"Yeah but not _the_ longest," Stan pointed out.

Wendy paused. She began to focus on Stan more, staring deeply into his eyes. "Oh?"

"Yeah. In fact, lots of words are longer than that. Like...Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism."

"Ooohhhh," Wendy cooed suddenly. Embarrassed, she placed a hand over her mouth.

Stan quirked an eyebrow. "You okay?"

Wendy cleared her throat, attempting to regain her composure. "Um, yeah. I'm fine. You were saying? What other words are longer?"

"Lots. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis."

"Mmm," Wendy moaned softly. Her eyes closed as her lips curved into a blissful smile.

Kyle felt his heart break instantly. Those sounds could mean only one thing as far as he was concerned. Apparently, Stanley had found himself a new Scrabble partner. Kyle decided not to stick around to listen to the aftermath. He took his new edition of the Scrabble dictionary and began a sad walk for home.

Back inside, Stan's frightened eyes widened as he moved ever so slightly away from the girl. "Um, Wendy?"

"More Stan," she encouraged in a lustful whisper. "Let's spell."

"Wendy!" Stan exclaimed in shock. "No! Wendy we can't spell together."

"The hell we can't!" she shot back. "You don't just stimulate my mind and then stop! What are you, a word tease?"

Stan frowned. "I'm sorry if I led you on. Wendy, I'm partners with Kyle. You _know_ that."

She sighed. "I'm sorry. I guess I got carried away. I'm just so lonely..."

"Well you need to get your words from somewhere else. I'm sorry."

"Jesus. First Cartman now you. Don't I make a good partner?"

"You make a great partner," Stan promised her. "Trust me, if I liked playing with girls, I'd totally be whipping out my dictionary right now."

She couldn't help but laugh at that remark. "What would our team name be?"

Stan shrugged. "Standy?"

"...Wow."

Wendy quickly stood up from the floor.

"Thanks Stan. You kept me from making a terrible mistake."

The stage was set for what would surely be the most dramatic Scrabble game ever. In hindsight it would've been best to cancel the gathering, but this had become a weekly tradition. The group members were quite stubborn about that.

Since Kyle was hosting, he made sure to arrange the chairs appropriately. First, he made sure his seat was far away from Stan's, which was placed next to Wendy's. He briefly glared at the new couple's seats before going back to work. Since Kyle had no idea who the others would turn up with yet, he left their chairs far enough away from the kitchen table so that they could easily move them around to wherever they'd prefer.

"Can I help?"

Kyle turned around, finding Ike now inside the kitchen with him.

"No Ike. I've got it, thanks."

Ike hugged his older brother's leg. "Pwease?"

Kyle scowled. "Ike stop it! I told you, I'm partners with-"

He paused. Angry eyebrows arched upward once again.

"...Yeah Ike. On second thought, you _can_ help me. We're gonna be Kike today. Stan's not the only one who can find a new partner."

"Yay!" Ike replied.

Stan was the first to arrive. He invited himself in, and was surprised to find the brothers seated in chairs side by side.

"Kyle, what're you doing?" he asked.

"The same thing you did to me," Kyle shot back. "But at least _I'm_ about to do it with the same gender!"

"Ike that's my chair. Get up," Stan said.

"No" Ike answered.

Kyle pointed his finger. "_Your_ chair's right over there. Next to Wendy's. I know that's how you want it to be."

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb with me Stan! I was outside your bedroom. I heard what happened the other night."

"Oh, that."

Kyle scowled. "Yes, _that_ you asshole."

"Kyle nothing happened. Wendy was lonely. Things got kinda weird, but we didn't do anything. You _know_ I wouldn't play Scrabble with anybody but you."

"Bullshit!"

"I wouldn't! Which is more than I can say for _you_ right now!"

"If nothing happened, why didn't you bother telling me about this?"

"Because you've been avoiding me all week! Now I know why."

A knock at the front door interrupted the quarrell. Being Kyle's house, he knew he had to be the one to go answer it. He headed off, leaving Stan and Ike to hatefully stare down each other.

"Hey Kyle," Bebe said when the door finally opened.

"Hey. Where's your partner?"

"I...I don't have one," she announced sadly.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Can I come in anyway? Please?"

Kyle frowned, feeling bad for her. "Bebe, you know we play in teams."

"I know. But I've been coming to these games forever. It's not fair to shut a person out of things just because they don't have a cool combination name."

Kyle sighed. "Okay fine, come inside. Maybe you can watch or play winners or something."

She smiled. "Thanks Kyle."

As Bebe was entering the house, Cartman and Butters were also pulling up on their respective bikes. Due to the fact that they were now teammates, Cartman resisted his urge to mock Butters for having a banana seat and pink tassels on the handlebars.

"Butters. Fat ass," Kyle greeted.

"Prepare to be owned, Jew boy," Cartman warned. "Me and my new partner are gonna triple word score all over your ass. Wendy's too."

Kyle stuck his arms out to the sides, blocking entrance into the house. "You know, this is all _your_ fault, Cartman! If you had been a better partner to Wendy, she never would've had to go to Stan!"

Cartman raised an eyebrow. "Wait a second. You mean Wendy is...partnered with Stan?"

"Yes asshole. And it's all your fault!"

Having said his peace, Kyle stormed back inside. Still outside, Cartman let out a sad sigh. Butters placed a hand on Eric's large back, patting it comfortingly.

"There, there Eric. It ain't your fault Wendy's a word-whore. B-besides, ya got _me_ now. At least until Kenny gets over losin' Bebe. Then you might be all alone again. B-but until then-"

"Shut up Butters."

Kenny and Wendy showed up individually a few minutes later. Feeling the tension in the room right away, they both chose to sit on their own and moved their chairs slightly away from the others. Bebe, meanwhile, fixed herself a snack inside Kyle's kitchen.

"Where the hell is Tweek?!" Cartman finally demanded to know.

"Anxious to start the game?" a jealous Wendy asked.

"Maybe I am," Cartman said with a smug smile present on his face. "Butters _is_ such a great partner to have."

"Well it didn't take you very long to find him, did it?!" she accused.

"At least _Butters_ wasn't already taken!" Kyle argued, finding himself unusually enough on the same side as Cartman.

"Kyle nothing happened!" Stan repeated.

Ike hugged his older brother. "Mine!"

"Guys? Calm the fuck down," Kenny said. "I don't know what's going on, but if these are your new partners we need new team names."

"Kike!" Ike blurted out.

Upon hearing the new name, Cartman smirked. Then snickered. Then busted his oversized gut with laughter.

"Shut up fat boy!" Kyle shouted.

"Cartman, Butters. What's your name?" Kenny asked.

Cartman quickly placed a hand over his blonde companion's mouth.

"Butters," he whispered. "I'm risking a lot of ridicule letting you pick our team name. Our name's cool right?"

He removed his hand. Butters smiled proudly. "Oh yeah, it's really cool. I've been thinkin' about it all week long Eric. You won't be sorry."

"All right."

Butters spoke up again. "We're Buttman!"

The entire table, minus the members of the newly named Buttman, began to laugh in unified hysterics.

Cartman's fist slammed against the tabletop. "BUTTERS YOU ASSHOLE!!"

The laughs were soon interrupted by voices coming from outside the house.

"You need to take up smoking! Stop being such a nervous little beetch!"

"GAH!"

This time, the entire table got up to answer the door. Not wanting to be left out, Bebe tagged along too.

"It's about goddamn time, Tweek!" Cartman exclaimed. "No wonder he's late you guys. He brought the stupid, time-zone delayed Brit for his partner."

Kyel grinned. "Don't try to change the subject, Buttman."

"SHUT UP KAHL!"

"Tweek! Dude you totally missed it!" Stan said. "It was hilarious!"

"I hate you gahs. Hate you so very, very much," Cartman muttered.

The Mole exhaled some cigarette smoke. "Can we get this sheet over with? This little beetch isn't paying me by ze hour to team with him."

Tweek twitched. "We're-ACK!-We're Meek."

"Still not as funny as Buttman," Kenny decided, encouraging more laughs from the group.

"Wh-what about Kike?" Cartman weakly defended. "Remember Kike you guys?"

"Serves you right," Wendy said. "If you'd treated me better, we could still be Candy."

"_You're_ the one who broke it off with _me_," Cartman reminded her. "And by the way Wendy, where's _your_ new partner, hm?"

Wendy gritted her teeth. "I don't have one _yet_. But-"

"Because you don't want one?" Cartman interrupted.

"...Maybe," she admitted. "Do you?"

"Hell no! I was only using this fag to make you jealous."

"Well, it worked. Congratulations. You know how to piss me off."

"Ditto. But I'm still the best partner you ever had, and you know it."

Wendy smiled. "And you know _I'm_ the best for _you_."

"Honorificabilitudinitatibus?" he asked flirtatiously.

"Floccinaucinihilipilification," she answered with a wink.

Just like that, it seemed, they were back together again. Cartman violently shoved Butters to the ground and made his way over toward Wendy. The two locked arms and made their way back inside the house, heading for the Scrabble table.

With regret present in his eyes, Kyle reluctantly turned to face Stan.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I guess you were telling the truth about Wendy, huh?"

"Yeah, I was."

"Can you forgive me?"

"Of course I can Kyle. That's what partners do."

The two boys embraced in a warm hug.

"Style," Kyle said out loud. "I like the sound of that."

"Me too," Stan agreed. "We could totally be a wrestling tag team."

A few feet away, a freshly-rejected Ike began to cry. As the tears fell to the ground, Bebe went over to comfort him.

Butters attempted to get to his feet. He was surprised, and happy, to find Kenny offering him a hand.

"You okay?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, I think so. Stupid Eric..."

Kenny helped his fellow blonde to his feet. When Butters started brushing the dirt off of his clothes, Kenny assisted in that, too.

Bebe pouted. "Kenny, what are you doing?"

"The same thing you should be doing: Getting over each other," he said. "Butters, I know you just got dumped and everything. But, if you want, we could play Scrabble."

Butters smiled. "Oh gee whiz! Ya mean it?"

"Yeah. Could just be for tonight, could be more...Whatever you wanna do."

Butters latched onto Kenny's hand tightly. "I'd like that! A WHOLE lot! I-I never really wanted to be Buttman anyway. To be honest, I always kinda thought about...bein' your partner," he admitted with a blush.

Kenny raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What's our name?"

Bashfully, Butters stammered "W-well, I was thinkin' m-maybe...Bunny."

"Bunny?" Ken smirked. "Cute."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. So, you wanna Scrabble?"

"Boy do I! L-let's go!"

Kenny was happily dragged inside, waving goodbye to Bebe as he passed her.

"Well this sucks!" she said. "What am I supposed to do!"

Stan and Kyle blinked a few times, before an idea formed in Kyle's head.

"You know Bebe, you might wanna think about my brother."

"HIM?! But he's so much younger than me!"

"Maybe, but his brain's big," Kyle smirked. "He's been playing Scrabble since he was in kindergarten."

Bebe looked down at Ike with raised, interested eyebrows. "Really? Is that true?"

Ike nodded, then buried his sobbing floppy head in Bebe's chest.

"But what would our team name be?" she wondered.

"Bike" Ike offered.

"...That works."

She promptly scooped the boy up and began to carry him inside. Presumably for a nice game of Scrabble.

"This sheet is fucking gay," Mole decided as he stomped out one of his smokes. He turned his back on the remaining group and began to walk away. "Find yourself a new partner Tweek."

"GAH! NO!" Tweek called after him. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE!"

Stan frowned. "Tweek, I think maybe you and Craig should take a break from Scrabble for a while."

"GAH! What do you mean?"

"I mean you guys obviously have some issues to work on if you're coming here with Mole."

"But, but Craig said I could. That makes it okay."

"No dude, it doesn't. Look at how jealous Kyle got of me just now. And Cartman and Wendy. I'm sorry if this is none of my business, but I just feel like if you love being partners with somebody, you don't like it when they team up with other people. And you especially don't _tell_ them it's cool to do. You guys should re-evaluate your partnership. If you wanna come back and play after that, cool."

Tweek twitched. "Maybe you're right. This game IS a lot of pressure on me."

"Big surprise," Stan mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. Go home dude."

Tweek did just that, while a happy Kyle and Stan made their way inside.

Finally, the teams were back how they belong.

END


End file.
